Buffering
by Great Mistake
Summary: ((Retelling)) A surprise attack from an old foe leaves a kingdom in ruin and a princess in pain.
1. 1: He Returns

**Foreword**

**This is a retelling of the pick-it fence's story _Buffering_. I do not own the idea of this story, but the author herself allowed me to rewrite the story and publish it under my name. Actually, she really wanted me to rewrite it, so, pick-it, here you go!  
****I recommend NOT reading the original copy that the pick-it fence published some time ago, because this is a re_telling_ (not a re_make_) and it will incorporate a lot of the same plot points and characters. Unless you wish to spoil the story for yourself, then you are free to read her copy. She doesn't even really like her copy either, so I guess I have a lot to live up to! **

**Feel free to leave any constructive criticism - I always appreciate it. All reviews are welcome! And if you've read the story before, please do not spoil the story for other readers!**

**Enjoy ~ **

**- Great Mistake**

* * *

**~1~**

**He Returns**

The small window was barred, though it looked nothing like a window and more like a hole in the wall made from cannon. Princess Daisy could slip nothing more than her thin hand in between the rusted bars into the foreboding darkness. She slid down, against the cold wall.

"Oh, just trust me! The minute that Mario gets here, he'll kick all of your bee-hinds with a single swoop! Then you'll all wish that you were attacking some other rotten kingdom than Sarasaland!"

Daisy looked up. "Toadette," she whispered, "please stop."

"I'm real sorry, Miz Daisy, but I'm giving these hooligans what for!" Toadette shook the metal bars of the cell. "_YOU HEAR ME, TANGO? I'M GOING TO COME UP THERE AND KICK YOUR ALIEN BUTT TOO!"_

"Tatanga."

Toadette turned. "Huh?"

"His name is Tatanga, not Tango."

Toadette scoffed. "His name could be Mister Haystack Guy and I still wouldn't care. I'll call him whatever I want to call him." She turned back to the bars and shouted, "_BECAUSE I'M NOT GOING TO LISTEN TO HIS RULES!_"

"Toadette, calm down." Daisy outlined one of the cement layers of the stone. "It's over. Mario's not coming this time."

The mushroom girl turned. "What do you mean, Miz Daisy? He always comes for us, just like he does for Peach. He wouldn't stop cold like that."

"It was a surprise attack. Mario never got the news because Parakarry was caught in this mess, too. He's part of Tatanga's guards now, and it's only a matter of time before Tatanga takes control of Sarasaland."

"Oh, come on now, Miz Daisy!" Toadette walked over to the princess. "Where's your hope in all this? This isn't like you. I'm sure that Mario will get the news and come running this way."

Daisy kept her eyes on the ground. She started to pick at the grainy floor, boring a small hole in the thick sand. Toadette stepped closer and looked down. "I'm getting the sense that you're getting an idea, Miz Daisy."

The princess started to smile. "Yes," she whispered, "I think I do have an idea." Daisy looked up from the floor and looked out in the dimly lit corridor of the dungeon. She turned to Toadette. "Listen to me, Toadette, and you have to keep your voice down."

Toadette nodded, her face lighting up.

"I'm going to dig a big enough hole for you to get into and dig your way out of the dungeon." Daisy turned to the young mushroom girl. Toadette gave one short nod before the princess returned to the small hole in the chunky sand.

Although the castle was built over sand, the sand was tightly packed and hard enough to hold the weight of the Sarasaland castle. If the princess clawed and scraped at the sand for a long time, she'd be able to dig a big enough hole for Toadette to climb into. But, why not dig a hole big enough for the both of them?

Toadette looked to Daisy, about to ask the question when a hypnotized Pinopi entered the dungeon corridor.

"It late," the purple garbed creature said. "Tatanga order sleep."

The girls stared at him for a moment before it bared its fangs and hissed. "_Now_."

"And just who do you think you are to tell the great Miz Daisy what to do and what –"

Daisy grabbed a hold of Toadette's arm. "Hush," she snapped. "Pretend," she whispered.

Toadette opened her mouth to object, but she only let out a sigh. She walked over to the cot in one side of the room and hopped up on the edge. She lay back, staring at the black ceiling. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the Pinopi waiting - _watching_. Toadette looked over to Princess Daisy, who rested her head on the wall and closed her eyes. There was utter silence in the cell, but the Pinopi was not pleased. It could sense that they were still awake, so it waited . . . and waited . . . and waited.

The longer the Pinopi stood and stared, the more Toadette and Princess Daisy found themselves starting to drift off into sleep. They tried to stay awake, to keep their focus on the hole, but their heavy eyelids eventually closed their squinted eyes and the world around them faded to black.

The Pinopi raised its lip into a sort of smile, flaunting its sharp teeth. It turned and started up the twisted stairs of the dungeon, back up to the throne room.

It did not take long for the two to enter a deep sleep. Toadette started to toss and turn on the cot, rolling this way and that. The thin sheet was tossed over the side and the pillow fell to the floor. While muttering something under her breath, she flipped to the other side of the cot and fell off the edge. She hit her head on the floor. After letting out a small "Ow" she rubbed her throbbing head and looked up. Though the sky was as black as a cauldron, the mushroom girl made her way to the dent in the floor that was the hole.

"Miz Daisy?" She nudged the woman. "Princess? Are you going to wake up?"

Apparently not, since there was no response from the Sarasin princess. Toadette sighed, displeased that she would have to excavate on her own. She put her fleshy hands into the cold sand and started to dig as fast as she could. Even if there were no guards out now, there was no telling when Tango was going to send another one down. It would probably bring a weird spell with it, too.

Grains of sand started to fly into the air, landing far on the other side of the cell. Toadette turned, realizing that she'd have to cover up her tracks.

The hole was nearly deep and wide enough for her to crawl into. She walked over to the pile of broken sand on the other side of the cell. She dragged it over to the hole.

"Miz Daisy, I'm going to have to have you wake up now."

No reply. The princess kept snoozing.

"Miz Daisy?" Toadette tugged on the princess' sleeve. "Wake up now. You're going to havta wake up now more than ever!"

There was just silence. Toadette sighed, looking behind her to assure herself that there were no guards around.

"Mama told me that if ya want something to get done, you do it yourself." Toadette dropped herself down into the little ditch. "Probably one of the only times she was ever right. Poor woman kept forgetting everything in her later years." She pulled the sand pile close to her. "Goodbye, Miz Daisy. I promise you that I'll get Mario."

The loose sand filled the entrance to the ditch and Toadette continued digging her way through. The tightly packed sand kept a decent roof over her head while she clawed at the middle layers.

The Mushroom Kingdom was a couple of miles east. Toadette continued digging in the same direction, hoping that she'd end up nearby the kingdom.

* * *

"I couldn't sleep last night, Mario."

"Explains why you look drained today."

Luigi perked his head up and stared at his brother sitting across from him.

"I've been seeing things lately and –"

"When are you not seeing things?"

"I'm being serious, Mario."

"And I am, too."

"You haven't been serious about" – Luigi made a large gesture – "_this_."

"Well, what is" – Mario mimicked the gesture – "_this?_"

"I just don't think that it's best for me to accompany you anymore. On adventures, I mean."

Mario laughed. "You must be kidding, Luigi! It's not like you've had a really bad experience."

Luigi gained a tense anger in his stare and Mario instantly recalled the Void incident. "Luigi," he said in a coaxing voice, "that was a year ago."

"And that's what you said the last time I told you about this! I've made up my mind."

"I couldn't do this without you."

"Yes you can. You've done it all before without me, so you can do it all again without me."

"Luigi –"

Their conversation was interrupted by a knock at the door. They turned their heads towards it, but Mario stood. He opened the door and was suddenly tackled to the ground by a pink Toad.

"Oh, you don't know how happy I am to see you!"

Mario looked to Luigi, who shrugged. The older Mario brother pried Toadette off of him. She fell to his side, but bounced right back up. Mario stood, letting out a light groan.

"Toadette, how did you get here?"

She turned to Luigi. "That's a simple. I _dug _my way here."

"Dug?" Mario rubbed his head. "As in you dug your way through Sarasaland to get here?"

"Eeyep."

"All in a day?"

Toadette looked out the window. The blinds were drawn, but she could see the light of the sun through them. "I just kept on diggin' till I came across a broken Warp Pipe that brought me to the edge of the kingdom." Then she turned to Mario. "But that's not the point. I have some bad news.

"There's been a surprise attack from this purple alien guy, name starts with a T, and he's hyp-no-tized almost everyone in the kingdom, excepting Miz Daisy and myself. I was able to escape, but she stayed behind. She had her reasons to."

Luigi shot up. "Is she still okay?"

"Perfectly fine, I think." Toadette stared at Luigi, trying to recall who he was. It was on the tip of her tongue. Princess Daisy mentioned him before. Did he save her once? No, that was Mario. Then why did the princess talk about him like he did? Now that Toadette really thought about it, she didn't even know that Mario had a brother.

"We should head out now," Luigi said. "If we're lucky, we can probably make it there in a couple of hours. If the Warp Pipe will work, that is." He started to head out the door.

"_We_?" Mario put his arm out to stop him. "I thought you said that you didn't want to come with me on these kinds of adventures anymore."

Toadette grabbed Mario's arm. "We'll have enough time for your bickering after you two save Sarasaland!" She pulled him out of the house with Luigi following behind them.


	2. 2: Escape

**For the following chapter, I suggest that you should look over the Super Mario Land enemy list to familiarize yourself with the several enemies that will be making an appearance in here. Use Google or the Mario Wiki or whatever you may have on you. The chapter might be harder to imagine in your mind-brain without knowing what's what. Just a quick heads-up.**

* * *

**~2~**

**Escape**

The coming of dawn brought nothing more than a headache and a craving for darkness. The sunlight beamed down through the small window. It landed directly on the princess' face, causing her to tightly close her eyes and roll to the other side. The old sandstone ground started to make a crunching noise as she turned. There was a sinking feeling in her stomach, but Daisy's thoughts were elsewhere. She was free right now – somewhere far away with her dearest friends. There was no evil where she was, there was only good in this world.

It did not take long for her dream world to crumble down. The sound of a Pinopi's footsteps neared the cell, and although they were as quiet as a mouse in reality, they sounded like giant's steps nearing in Daisy's mind.

"You wake now," it hissed in a kindly voice. "Tatanga see you now."

_If I keep sleeping, it'll leave. It'll have to. _

And Daisy did just that.

"You _wake _now." The voice was harsher – less kind.

Daisy did not move. She dare not move.

The cell door was pulled open. It blared the sound of hundreds of old metals and gears were grinding together to open up the heavy doors of a cell originally intended to lock away those who had done wrong. Daisy swallowed her spit, hoping that the Pinopi would leave.

It stood. Then a shadow crawled up beside the huddled body of the princess. The cold body of a zombie-like creature bent down beside her. "_Wake now_."

Princess Daisy opened her eyes slowly. The Pinopi composed itself, hiding its bony hands in its long, purple sleeves. She watched the monster walk out of the cell, and stand in front, waiting for her to follow behind. Daisy stood and dusted off her yellow and orange dress. As she looked down, she saw a strange formation in the sandstone. There was what seemed like a man-made hole that had been sloppily covered up. Daisy's eyes widened in shock when she remembered that Toadette and her had made plans to escape. The princess looked around the cell frantically. Toadette was nowhere to be found.

"Follow now."

Daisy looked to the Pinopi who started leading the way out of the dungeon. She knew it would stop to see if she followed after, so she walked out of the cell. Toadette had to be around here somewhere. The mushroom girl wouldn't go off like that, would she?

The spiral staircase that led out of the dungeon creaked as the two climbed up. A broken wooden door was poorly hinged to the cobblestone walls. The Pinopi pushed the door open, showing its blue, bony hand. Princess Daisy lowered her eyes to look away. The halls of the Sarasin castle were bleak and bare. The princess's heavy footsteps echoed through the dark corridor, while the Pinopi's footsteps were light and inaudible. The stain glass windows that once told the history of the castle were shattered and broken beyond repair. The Sarasin Castle was nearly thousands of years old, just as those windows were. Tatanga's forces didn't seem to care when they ravaged the place. Daisy turned her head away from the colored broken glass on the ground. She followed the Pinopi until they reached the grand doors of the Throne Room.

The Throne Room had a wide window that looked over all of Chai Town. Daisy remembered having her back turned to the window when the _Pagosu_ had crashed in. All the guards around her had gone into red alert and pushed her out of the room. Then she had heard through the weak wood of the doors that dreaded sound. It was that high-pitched ring that had hypnotized all her subjects before. It was that sound that caused everyone to turn.

The pointed end of a BunBun's spear poked Daisy's side. She drew back, forcing her consciousness back to reality. The meek purple alien sat proudly on the red throne. _Her _red throne. From the triumphant look on his face, she could tell that it was his throne now.

"I've been expecting you, my princess."

Daisy said nothing. Tatanga waved his hand and the Pinopi next to her grabbed her wrist tightly, pushing into the flesh beneath the heel of her palm. "Response," it hissed. She clenched her teeth, but she did not say a word. Its claw started to scrape her dry skin, and she felt the pinching pain of blood begging to escape.

Daisy looked up with her teeth grinding. She was holding back a scream as she spoke. "_I'm sure you have._"

With another wave of Tatanga's hand, the Pinopi released her. It returned to its blank state – waiting on stand-by.

"Please, come closer."

The pointed edge of the BunBun's spear poked her side once again. She walked forward, staggering as she did. Tatanga was a small alien, but one should not judge by appearances. Behind his every step, Tatanga had a fleet of his alien brethren, guarding all four regions of Sarasaland and armed by the finest extraterrestrial technology Tatanga's planet could muster. He was indeed weak, but he wasn't stupid.

"My princess," he said suavely, "my offer still stands."

Daisy looked him in the eye. "I don't want your petty offer. Let my kingdom go."

"But I will make you my queen and we can rule together, as one!"

"I wouldn't want to rule beside you if my life depended on it."

Tatanga smiled. "Let's pretend it does." He snapped his fingers and two Nyololin slithered out of the dark corners of the room. They hissed and darted towards the princess. She screamed as they tied themselves around her chest and neck with a force strong enough to make Princess Daisy nearly suffocate. Their heads rose to hers. Orange flames started to dance in their open mouths. "Now, as I was saying, my offer still stands."

Daisy tried to speak, but no words came out. She instead shook her head.

Tatanga growled. His hand hovered over a red button that would trigger the hypnotic ringing sound. Before his palm slammed down on the glowing button, the Throne Room doors were blown open and sent halfway across the room. Green electricity surged through the broken wood. Tatanga looked to the doorway, staring at the man dressed in green.

The Nyololin loosened their grip on the princess and they slithered down her body to the floor to investigate. Daisy fell to the floor and inhaled deeply. The fresh air burned her throat. Her face flushed.

Tatanga looked to Daisy, then to the man, then to his minions. He pointed at the man. "Seize him!" He bounced in his throne. "SEIZE HIM!"

The guards started to circle around Luigi. Pinopis bared their fangs and outstretched their bony arms; BunBuns buzzed and positioned their spears to attack; Nyololin started to slither to his side; Suus climbed down from the ceiling, flailing their thin legs to land carefully on him. The electricity in Luigi's hand started to die down and fear started to swallow him.

Daisy looked over to him. She tried to encourage him, but no words came out. She breathed in once again and crawled over to the throne.

Tatanga stared at her and started to laugh. The princess was pretty when she was failing oh so miserably. He brought his hand down on the red button on the throne and the high-pitched ringing sound echoed through the room. Daisy brought her hands to her ears, hoping that she wouldn't turn.

Luigi felt his head throb and he fell to the ground. He shut his eyes tightly. A black mist started to outline his body.

* * *

Toadette looked at the castle with awe. "What a bunch of baloney."

Mario held a Kumo by its furry legs. It continued to try and bite him. Purple venom leaked out of its blue mouth and Mario felt sick to his stomach. He threw it to the ground. It stood on its hind legs and hissed. Mario brought his foot down on it. Purple goop started to spread on the sand around it.

"I hope that Miz Daisy is fine up there. Her and your brother, too."

Mario scraped the bottom of his shoe. "We have to find a way to bring the castle down. It's the only way to stop him from down here." Mario mumbled, "I told Luigi not to go up there by himself."

"I'm sure that he's got things under control. He's a Mario, after all."

A high-pitched ringing noise sounded from the top of the castle. Toadette and Mario covered their ears. The buzzing sound of an incoming plane overpowered the sound of the ringing. Mario looked up. Black cannons were fired from the nose of a Roketon's plane. They were headed straight for Toadette, her back turned and unsuspecting. Mario dove forward and pulled her out of the way. The cannons landed in the sand. A second later, they exploded, forcing millions of little grains of sand to spew out like lava.

Toadette looked at the ground nervously. "You saved me . . ." she said softly, and she felt her cheeks redden.

Mario paid no attention and looked to the skies. A familiar Paratroopa lunged itself down towards him.

Mario shot up, positioning himself for battle. Parakarry landed on the ground, his pupils constricted to nothing but fine black lines behind his goggles.

"Stand down by the orders of the great lord Tatanga," he said robotically.

"I don't want to fight you." Mario held his position, though. He would fight if he had to fight, whether he liked it or not.

The letters written by Sarasins filled the Koopa's satchel. He tossed it to the ground and flapped his wings. "I said to stand down, Human!"

Mario summoned orange flames. A fireball materialized itself in his palm. He faltered.

Parakarry did not, and he pulled his fist back. He flew straight towards Mario with the only objective of striking the red Human down.

A fire blast hit the Paratroopa, sending him back. The Koopa landed in the sand and popped out of the shell, tossing his wings over him. The lone blue shell remained.

The sound of plane wings cutting through the thick air was heard again. Another Roketon was making its way to Mario and Toadette. "Incoming!" she shouted.

Mario grabbed the shell and held it. He tossed it towards the plane, jamming it right into its open nose. The Roketon ejected himself and jumped off the side, landing hard in the sand. The plane came spiraling down into the sand without its pilot. Its cannons started to crash into each other. Toadette looked at it curiously. "I don't think it's supposed to smoke like that."

"It's not." Mario walked over to it and looked inside. All the controls were labeled in a foreign language; instead of letters, there were characters, and they looked different from any other language that Mario had ever seen. But, figuring out the controls couldn't be that difficult, could it?

"What do you think you're doing, mister?"

Mario glanced over the blinking buttons once more. The plane was secure and planted into the ground. It wasn't going to be flying any time soon. With this in mind, Mario started to consider what to do. His mind went blank and now he only had two options: succeed or fail in killing Tatanga. There were no thoughts on any other person or thing, there was only win or lose.

_Destroy the castle, _said the small voice in his head.

The plane made a harsh clunking sound as another cannon bumped into the shell. His train of thought was broken. With the cannons backing up like that, there was no way the thing would last. Mario put his hands on the side of the plane and started to push it in a different direction.

The smoking plane now faced the castle.

* * *

A white film covered Luigi's eyes. Daisy had never seen anything like it before. Tatanga could care less.

"SEIZE HIM, YOU IDIOTS!"

Luigi stood shakily. Green electricity sparked in his hand and it wrapped around his arm. A Pinopi advanced towards him, threatening to bite. Luigi grabbed the Pinopi by his neck and let a bolt of electricity run through its feeble body. Luigi released it and it fell to the floor. It sporadically twitched from one side to the other, foaming at the mouth. Luigi looked up from his handiwork. Daisy stared at him. _Who was this man?_

All the hypnotized minions stepped back, fearful. Tatanga growled. "KILL HIM ALREADY!" He looked at his minions. They all stood with blank glances. "YOU FOOLS! KILL HIM!" No one moved.

Luigi clapped his hands together and smiled. "Well, with that done," – he took his stance – "have at you."

Tatanga yelled out in frustration and hopped down from the throne. As he did, the castle shook. It started to lean to one side. Daisy grabbed a hold of the throne's armrest.

The castle was falling.

* * *

**I find it funny that the pick-it fence was able to sum all this up in a single chapter, while I'm taking my sweet lil' old time and using three chapters.  
"You writers and your pacing," she says.**

**I had to make some major final edits to this chapter due to painfully obvious symbolism that I was afraid of being harshly accused of for putting in a fan fiction. I apologize if this chapter felt a little choppy, especially towards the middle. **

**Criticism or not, all reviews are welcome!**

**- Great Mistake **


	3. 3: Destruction

**Fa-la-la-la-la  
La-la-la-la ~**

**/)^3^(\ Happy holidays!**

* * *

**~3~**

**Destruction**

The small plane started to rumble. The red pointer in its meter spun rapidly around in circles. Not only was the plane congested by holding in all the cannons, but the thing was about to explode.

Mario grabbed Toadette's arm and pulled her back. She let out a small objection, but he didn't stop running. Toadette's feet started to drag across the sand, leaving behind wide and wavy lines. She paid no attention to this, however. The blue shell that had kept all the cannons inside the nose of the plane was forced out, and it was sent spinning towards the doors of the castle. Five large cannons followed behind it. Toadette watched with large, black eyes. "She's coming down."

The doors to the castle were broken through by the shell and the five cannons landed in the large foyer. In a few seconds, they flashed red. A chain reaction was caused, and as one was set off, the other blew up along with it. In a mere minute, the entire main section of the castle was nothing but a mushroom cloud of smoke and debris. The towers built on the side started to lean into the empty space without anything to keep them up. Soon, the castle fell unevenly on the sandy earth.

When the ground stopped shaking minutes after, Toadette pulled her arm away from Mario's grasp. She stopped and turned back towards the castle. Mario stopped dead in his tracks when Toadette pulled away. He slowly looked back at the caste, feeling his stomach drop all of the sudden.

The earth was deathly quiet.

The once hypnotized minions around Chai Town Square were now on the ground, shivering and crying out in pain. Toadette looked at them, watching as each one grabbed their head and started to look around in confusion. When they finally looked at the castle, Toadette heard them all gasp simultaneously. The mushroom girl stared at the gray remains of the Sarasin castle, expressionless at first. Her voice was monotone and bland. "You just killed them . . ."

Mario walked towards her. "No," he said quietly. "_No! I did not!_" he shouted. He mindlessly pushed Toadette to the side and ran towards the castle. He knelt before the rubble and started to dig. Broken cobblestone bricks and old wooden frame were tossed behind him.

He heard a cough beside him. Mario looked to his side. Luigi was pinned down by a pile of bricks that covered his lower waist. Mario darted over to him. He started to speak frantically in his native tongue while he pulled the bricks away.

Toadette walked slowly over to the mountain of debris with the majority of Chai Town staggering behind her. Mario grabbed Luigi's hand and pulled him up. Luigi rubbed his blue eyes, blinking away the dust. The multiple species started to walk closer, wondering where their princess was.

A Nyololin slithered towards Toadette and hissed. It gestured its head towards the top of the rubble. Toadette followed its gesture and spotted an unconscious Princess Daisy. "At the top!" Toadette pointed to the body. "She's at the top of the pile!"

Mario and Luigi looked to the top of the pile. Luigi started to climb up the broken rocks and wooden frames. Mario followed after him.

Luigi threw the cobblestones behind him. They bounced down the heap of golden colored stone and wood, rolling in the dirty sand when they reached the bottom. Toadette and the conscious half of Chai Town watched the brothers pull Daisy out of the mound she was under. Luigi picked her up and guided himself gently down the debris. Mario slid down after him.

Luigi rested the princess in the middle of the circle of Chai residents. He looked up at them all to reassure himself that they were not still under Tatanga's spell. All of their expressions were the same – fearful and curious – and their glances were far from the stand-by looks that they gave before. He brought his head back down at Daisy, with her hair ragged and her round face covered in scars and smudges. Luigi crouched down and brought two fingers to a section beside her bottom jaw and at the top of her neck.

A Pinopi stepped forward. "She wake?"

Mario looked over his brother's shoulder. Luigi moved his fingers away from her neck. Toadette walked over to the princess. "C'mon, Miz Daisy," she whispered. "You're going to havta wake up now more than ever, and I really, _really_ mean it this time."

But Daisy did not wake up, and the deathly silence consumed the broken Chai Town Square.

Parakarry stepped into the circle. One of his wings was dragging along the ground. A white shirt covered his yellow body. He looked towards the castle. "W-What happened?"

Toadette glared at Mario. "Mister Smart Guy thought that his plan was flawless, that's what."

Parakarry looked over Mario, who was fumbling over words. Luigi stood up and said sternly, "There's no use in blaming him. What's done is done."

"Is Miz Daisy well?"

Luigi looked down at the princess' motionless body. He mumbled something that Toadette could not understand before looking at her. "She is alive, and that's the good news."

"Then what's the bad news?"

Luigi waved her away. "We'll find out when we get to the Mushroom Kingdom."

Mario stepped closer. "But the courtyard Warp Pipe is completely underground. It'll take some two days to get there on foot."

Parakarry raised his hand shakily. "I could fly up and find the fastest route." He jumped up and flapped his good wing while the other limped on his side. He fell to the ground, letting out a loud "Oof" as he did.

Toadette looked around. "There's gotta be another pipe around here somewhere." She turned back with a wide smile on her face. Her face lit up and she snapped her fingers. "The Royal Stables in the border between here and the Easton Region! We're goin'-a riding, boys!" She started to make her way out of the circle. When she looked back, she noticed that the brothers hadn't moved. "You aren't scared now, are you? You've been riding Yoshis for years, and I've been taking lessons ever since I was a small one!"

"It's not that," Mario said. "Even if we go by Yoshi, it'll take about a day and a half to reach the castle."

"With Miz Daisy in that condition of hers, a day and a half is better than none." Toadette turned back around and continued out of Chai Town Square. Parakarry looked at both Mario and Luigi before running to catch up with her.

Luigi clapped Mario on the back. "You walk forward. I'll get Daisy."

Mario followed after them.

As Luigi tossed Daisy's limp arm over his neck, the rubble behind him started shake. With Daisy in his arms, he turned. A purple fist punched through the stone. Luigi stepped back.

"You go." A Pinopi stood beside him. "You care for princess. We rid of Tatanga ourselves."

BunBuns and Pinopis stepped forward, prepared to attack. Luigi looked at them, and after a while, he nodded. He carried Princess Daisy in his arms as he caught up with the rest of the group.

* * *

"The moon sure is big in this part of Sarasaland." Toadette put her hands on her hips. "That's what I really love about this kingdom - the beauty." She faced Parakarry. "Think your wing is broken?"

Parakarry grabbed his wing. He stretched it out as far as he could before he cringed. "Yep. Definitely broken."

"Seems like it hurts a lot."

"It does, but I've been through it before. There was this one time when I broke my wing trying to perform a stunt while delivering mail to a sick Toad." Parakarry smiled. "I tried to do a cyclone move, but I miscalculated some parts, and _BAM!_ Ended up face first into the ground. The rest is kinda fuzzy, but the next thing I know, I end up in my bed, with a splint on my wing. Had to wear it for weeks. Everyone thought I looked pretty funny with it on, and I wouldn't blame them for laughing so hard. I probably looked like an idiot w–"

"What are you doing with that shell?"

Parakarry tilted his head. "Oh, you mean with the Dry Bones shell?"

Toadette nodded.

"I need some kind of shelter. It gets really cold at night."

"'Specially in the desert," Toadette added matter-of-factly.

Parakarry pounded his fist on the shell, creating one hole on the left side. He pounded his fist again and made a hole on the right side. He put the shell down and folded his wings back – wincing and whining as he did so. He crawled into the shell and pushed his wings through the crude holes. He stood up.

Toadette studied him. "It's a nice improvise."

"Yeah, and that's all it is." Parakarry pulled the shell down and kept his broken wing close. "I'm just improvising until I can get home and get my shell back."

Four Yoshis trotted out of the stables. All of them were the same color of orange and all of them had the same leather Sarasin saddle strapped to their backs. Toadette remembered that their original shell saddles had been used for making the BunBun's nearly indestructible spears. Yoshi shells were one of the toughest materials around in Sarasaland. Toadette didn't truly know if there was possibly a tougher material to be found in any other kingdom; she never traveled any farther than the Birabuto Region border.

Mario walked out of the stable. He tossed Toadette the stable key. She caught it and put it in her pocket. Grabbing the reigns of one of the Yoshis, Toadette steadied herself on its back. The others did the same – Luigi taking the most precaution with the unconscious Daisy close to him.

"We'll be there in no time," Toadette said giddily, confidently. But she could hear the twinge of fear in her voice and she wondered if the others had heard it too.

Behind them neared the sound of buzzing. Mario prepared to signal the Yoshis to ride off, but Toadette demanded him to stop. A BunBun flew over to them and landed clumsily in the sand. Its transparent wings fell to its side and it stood tall, saluting the four. "Advisor," it said professionally, "we await your orders, yes?."

Toadette tilted her head. "Beg yer pardon?"

The BunBun was at ease, with its thin arm resting at its side now. "The princess, she is not with us now, and we have no orders. She looks to you at times, her advisor, yes?"

"My orders?" Toadette was taken aback by the sound of it. "I . . . I never told Miz Daisy to do anything real important. I'm just a good friend, not really an advisor."

The BunBun stood, as serious as ever. "We need someone to guide us, until the princess returns to good healths."

Toadette looked down and pondered leaving the group for the time being. The gracious title of royal advisor did sound appealing, but Toadette was only considered a friend in the eyes of her highness. There was no _advising_ going on. Toadette knew little to nothing about royal politics. And what about Miz Daisy now? Toadette had to be there for the princess - she just had to. The idea of staying in Sarasaland was not a feasible one."Is Tatango still around?" Toadette finally asked.

"The alien? No, he is dead. In the noontimes we disposed of him. Him and the others."

"Good." Toadette covered her mouth and coughed. "Try to keep everything under control until I come back. I'll be back with the princess soon." She looked to the unconscious princess with an unsure gleam. "Yes," she said. "I'll be back sooner than you know it."

The BunBun nodded. "I will relay the messages to the others, but I do not know how long we can go without the princess. She will be well, yes?"

Toadette sighed. "In due time." Again, her voice was heavy and unsure.

The BunBun saluted them once again and flew back towards Chai Town. Toadette inhaled and shook her head. "I'm not the one who should be makin' these kinds of choices." She stroked the neck of the Yoshi. "Alright, Mario, let's be on our way."

And they were on their way.

* * *

**Aaaaand what a wonderful way to kick off the final weeks of both the Year of Luigi and December. You can just_ feel_ the holiday spirit pouring out of this chapter! (note the sarcasm) **

**So, we've reached one of the more (possibly) controversial parts of the story: the castle being destroyed by the hands of Mario. We've all seen him do it before in Super Mario World, but never a to princess' castle.**

**And, in the spirit of pick-it's story and her countless questions that she likes to ask the readers (mostly towards the end of the story, but _I'm not going to listen to her rules!_), I have a question for you, Constant Reader!**

**Do you think that what Mario did was right, given the situation and the possible outcomes? **

**I'd honestly love to hear some opinions on this, because I remember absolutely loathing Mario for this in the original. Though, there was a different-ish set-up and a different-ish reason, but I digress.**

**Criticism or not, all reviews are welcome, and happy holidays! All of you get some well-deserved rest n' relaxation!**

**- Great Mistake**


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